Today, power converters are commonly used in conjunction with various devices such as mobile phones, tablets, computers, and other adaptive and non-adaptive devices (hereafter, each an “adaptive device”) to convert line voltages, such as the U.S. standard 120 volts AC, into various output voltages and currents (hereafter, each a “load request”) then desired by an adaptive device. Power converters commonly operate in at least two modes, powered mode and standby mode. During powered mode, power converters commonly convert input voltages and currents, such as those provided from an electrical circuit provided in a house, business or otherwise (an “input power”), into the voltages and currents requested by an adaptive device (a “load”). However, while power converters often remain connected to a source, adaptive devices are not always connected to or acting as a load to the power converter—such non-connected/non-load mode of operation for a power converter being referred to herein as “standby mode.” While in standby mode, power converters today typically continue to draw power from the source and convert such input power into low-level voltages and currents needed by the power converter itself to remain responsive to a later arising load.
While the continual powering of a power converter during standby mode enables the power converter to be highly responsive to load requests, it wastes energy. In some existing implementations, as much as 20-30 milliwatts of power is wasted during standby mode (hereafter, “standby power”). Over extended periods of time and in view of the millions of power converters in present use today, such power losses from standby power can be substantial.
One type of power converter commonly used today is a switch mode power supply. Switch mode power supplies commonly include a transformer having a first (primary) coil, a second (secondary) coil, and a third (sensing) coil. The primary coil is commonly connected to the input power source and the secondary coil is commonly connected to the adaptive device. During power mode, the primary coil, secondary coil, and sensing coil operate per design and often efficiently convert input power into the desired load. During standby mode, however, the primary coil connected to the input power source typically operates to maintain an output voltage at a constant voltage (such as 5 volts) although no load is connected. This providing of the 5 volts to the secondary coil enables the power converter to respond quickly to load demands. But, as discussed above, this approach wastes power.
While it is appreciated that a primary coil can be powered down by opening a circuit between the primary coil and the input power source, it is to be appreciated that such an approach often involves human intervention to reactivate the primary coil. That is, per such an approach, the connecting of an adaptive device (or the generation of a new load request from an already connected adaptive device) commonly requires human intervention to power on the primary coil as no known mechanism exists today for automatically activating a primary coil of a powered down power converter.
Accordingly, a power converter is needed that has a primary coil that can be powered down during standby mode and thereby not waste power, but, can be automatically awakened and responsive to new load requests, as needed.
The various embodiments of the present disclosure address the above and other concerns by providing for highly sophisticated control of standby mode of power converters and, in particular, switch mode power converters, by providing a secondary side control circuit that is capable of receiving a new load request from a connected adaptive device, and is configured to respond to such new load request by activating a primary side of the power converter without human intervention.